The Story Behind Rag & Bone’s Rule-Breaking Anniversary Cast

It wouldn’t be New York Fashion Week without Rag & Bone, but for the brand’s 15th anniversary, CEO Marcus Wainwright envisioned something beyond the conventional show. Looking back through the label’s history to the influential talents who’ve played a part in its development, Wainwright celebrated the forces behind Rag & Bone with an expansive portrait series that was on display last night in the Meatpacking District. “A runway show for Rag & Bone [this season] would have felt a little off. It just didn’t feel relevant to what was going on in the world,” said Wainwright before the event. “We wanted to have real people as the focus; they’re all characters with no thread that unites them, save the real sense of authenticity that they bring.”

With the walls of the gallery covered with Glen Luchford and Frank Lebon’s evocative pictures of everyone from photographer Bill Gentle, to perfumer Fabrice Penot, to actress Winona Ryder, the event provided an overview of Rag & Bone’s aesthetic and its frequent collaborators. As guests mingled through the gallery space immersing themselves in imagery, notables such as Radiohead’s Thom Yorke and Mikhail Baryshnikov stepped out casually sporting pieces from the Fall 2017 collection. For people-watchers the concept was a dream, but the star-studded selection came together organically. “There weren’t any specific casting directives; we just started putting together a list of people who we thought we would love to shoot,” said Wainwright, who showcased the company’s first employees and behind-the-scenes team right alongside the big names.

With people as the focus, it seemed fitting to let them approach the collection from their perspective, choosing their outfits and tailoring those to their taste. “There’s a self-styling element to it. Everyone felt truly comfortable in the clothes and had free range to wear what they wanted, which is a very different approach to casting and styling a show,” said Wainwright. “It totally transformed the way we were designing the clothes and the framework around what we were trying to do.”

Casting has played a key role in the brand’s history, and with influential casting director Ashley Brokaw selecting the runway lineup and a host of notables filling the brand’s campaigns and special projects, Wainwright and his team have never taken the choice of who presents their wares lightly. “It’s a deeply important part of what we do in some ways, but it also depends on the project; in terms of a runway show, you can tell a lot of the story with the cast,” said Wainwright. “For this, character is really what we were looking at, and this was based purely on that; this wasn’t about body shape, height, or a particular look.”

Rag & Bone’s choice to present the collection in a new manner and the exhibition, which runs until the 12th, are sure to generate discussion, something Wainwright welcomes. “I think that the joy of this is that you can take away from this whatever you want. I don’t expect anyone to come away with anything specific,” said Wainwright, who pointed to the brand’s photographic legacy as a valuable takeaway. “This has been a real labor of love, not only creating it but purely of the images themselves. As photographs they are amazing. I’m proud of the way we’ve honored photography throughout and created great imagery.” Though he joked that the only thing he truly expected guests to walk away with from the evening was a hangover, Wainwright knows that in fashion, a little change is always a good thing. “I hope people will come away from this feeling refreshed and having seen a very different take on what fashion could and possibly should be.”